'SmarTV' to begin service in Bali

JAKARTA (JP): The SmarTV cable television operator will begin its service in five-star hotels in Nusa Dua, Bali, by April next year before expanding to other tourist resorts in Bintan, Riau.

David Irwan, the president of PT Nuansa Kelir (NK), the owner of the TV cable operator, said in Jakarta on Friday that SmarTV expected to provide services to at least 3,200 hotel rooms in the first year, with an annual revenue of about US$2 million.

"The programs provided by SmarTV will be designed especially for the needs of tourists coming to Bali," David said in a media conference here.

Free-of-charge programs include a 24-hour broadcast on tourist destinations, local news and events and cultural attractions, he said.

With a cost of between $2 and $8 per view, hotel customers can also enjoy a selection of 100 movie titles, 170 titles of special cultural programs on Indonesia and video games, he said.

"Games can be played with other players in the hotel or in other hotels that have our services," David said.

SmarTV will also let hotel customers have access to the Internet and let them shop for local handicrafts from their hotel rooms, he said.

I.G.N. Erwin Anantawijaya, NK's technical director, said SmarTV would work together with local craftsmen to sell their products on air.

David said with an investment of $3.5 million in the first year, SmarTV would not be able to serve household customers.

"We could suppress our investment costs because servicing hotels with hundreds of rooms won't be as expensive as servicing households," president commissioner Irwan Erwanto said.

Costs can also be cut down on programs because of the high mobility of hotel customers, he added.

"One movie could be watched by hundreds of different people, unlike household customers who need a different program every time," Irwan said.

Irwan said the next step for SmarTV would be to expand to the Sanur area in Bali and to the island of Bintan in the Riau archipelago by 2003.

SmarTV is one of five cable TV operators which have received operational permits from the government. The other four are Indovision, owned by PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala, and Kabelvision, by PT Broadband Multimedia and PT Indonusa Telemedia and PT Multimedia Nusantara (Metra). (tnt)